Remapping OS X Application Keyboard Shortcuts

Sometimes you may try to assign a keyboard shortcut to a new command (such as a Service or Application Shortcut), and it won’t work due to that command already being taken. Or perhaps you want to assign a shortcut that utilises the Delete key. That can’t be done in the Keyboard Preferences panel on Mac OS X. All these things can be done by Terminal commands.

The following command will clear the keyboard shortcut you wish to utilise of any other modifications, which may be necessary if you find the key you are applying is not working. This example is for Finder, to clear the shortcut for the command for New Finder Window.

The next question is, what character to type into Terminal in reference to the keyboard key (SHIFT, COMMAND, CONTROL, etc.) you wish to bind to the shortcut. The following table shows which Character to use for each.